METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW YORK

METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW YORK; A Warehouse Is Robbed Of $5,000 at Gunpoint

Published: December 27, 1998

A warehouse that is used to distribute copies of The New York Times was robbed yesterday afternoon by two armed men who made off with $5,000 in cash and a delivery truck after tying up and gagging five people, the police said.

The two men, one armed with a shotgun and the other with a handgun, entered the warehouse, located on Pier 40 near West Houston and West Streets, shortly before 3:30 P.M.

They held five people, four employees of The Times and a security guard, at gunpoint, said Detective Joseph M. Pentangelo, a Police Department spokesman. The men bound and gagged the victims and stole $5,000 in cash, he said. The two men then escaped in the Times's delivery truck, Detective Pentangelo said.

The truck was recovered by a transit police officer at the corner of Hudson Street and Vestry Street an hour later. Detective Pentangelo said that the robbers fled on foot from there and that no arrests had been made.

Two employees of The Times suffered minor injuries during the robbery but refused medical attention, Lisa Carparelli, a spokeswoman for The Times, said.

There were no delays in delivering the sections of today's paper that were being distributed from the warehouse when the robbery occurred, Mrs. Carparelli said.